Quote:
Originally Posted by mss
My concern with the cheap items - which are cheap for a reason which is that they use cheap components and have not invested in RD&D - is the integrity of car's electronics in the case of failures rather than the battery. I consider batteries to be consumable/scarificial items and never hesitate to change a battery.
As I said earlier, compare the lifespan of Infenion MOSFETS and other semiconductor components with their copies or equivalents from certain parts of the world, then the price differences, and you will soon know a) why the some chargers can be purchased for circa £15 and b) why others cost circa £60.
The LIDL and ALDI chargers are very good value, in that they are equivalent to £20 chargers but are sold for £13. If you are happy with such a device, great.
But, always ask yourself, with a modern car's electronics worth £5k to £20k, is the difference between £13 and £60 material?
As it happens, I bought my third CTEK 2 weeks ago - a MSX 5.0. So now I have 3* CTEK, 1* Optimate and 1* LIDL plus a traditional non-auto 4A/8A Halfords device. The CTEK is worth every penny when you look at it's design, construction and quality of materials.
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And where do you imagine all of these items are made? China, all are manufactured in China. CTEK, Lidl, Aldi all get their supply from China, assembled in China, the components are made in China.
What you are paying for in most cases, is just the name on the box. What makes the contents of one box designed to do the same job, worth 20x times that of another box - just they hype around the name in most cases.
One seller sells HDMI leads for £2, another seller sells gold plated oxygen free HDMI leads with 'special insulation' for £300. Purchasers swear they can tell the difference in the much better audio and picture rendition via the £300 lead. They claim the quality improvements are so very subtle that most viewers and listeners cannot tell the difference - of course they have to justify their paying £298 extra for the same item.
Lidl have 300g Ginger Nuts not on special offer, 25p per pack. Tesco have 250g Ginger Nuts for £1. Which do I prefer on pure taste not value - the lidl ones, which is where I am heading right now, for another packet
25p a £1, makes no odds to me, I buy ones I like the taste of.
The kings clothes syndrome applies - some people just like to justify paying more for the same thing.